The present invention relates to an improved retainer clamp, and more particularly, to an improved retainer clamp for selectively and securely supporting a handheld showerhead adapted to be connected, via a flexible conduit, with a source of water under pressure, such as a conventional shower pipe fitting found in bathrooms and the like.
In the past, other clamps and brackets have been proposed and used for supporting handheld showerheads. U.S. Pat. No. 3,865,310 discloses one such clamp which may be mounted on a shower pipe fitting and which may be utilized to selectively support a handheld showerhead. This patented clamp includes a pair of arms that are pivotedly mounted, intermediate their ends, on the body of the clamp and that are adapted to be moved between an opened position and a closed position. When the arms are in their open position, the handle portion of a handheld showerhead may be moved into and out of the space between the arms. When the arms are in their closed position, the arms serve to clamp the handle portion of a handheld showerhead. The arms may be moved between their open and closed positions and between their closed and open positions by pressing the handle portion of a handheld showerhead against the ends of the arms.
While this patented clamp generally performs its intended functions satisfactorily, it does appear to have a serious disadvantage from the standpoint of safety. When a handheld showerhead is supported by the patented clamp, the longitudinal axes of its handle portion is generally disposed perpendicularly to the plane which includes the axes of the arms of the clamp and the arms, in their closed position, surround the handle portion adjacent to the nozzle portion of the showerhead. The arms of the clamp may be inadvertently opened as a result of the distal end of the handle portion being moved, at an angle with respect to the clamp, such that the part of the handle portion surround by the clamp forces the arms apart. Such angular movement may be caused by someone bumping the handle portion of the showerhead or accidently pulling on the flexible conduit connected with the showerhead. Such an opening of the arms of the clamp will, of course, result in the showerhead being dislodged from the clamp. This obviously presents a potential danger to persons, and particularly smaller children, who are standing underneath or near the showerhead.
Accordingly it is a primary object of my present invention to provide an improved retainer clamp for a handheld showerhead wherein my improved retainer clamp supports the showerhead so as to prevent accidental dislodgement of the showerhead. Another object and advantage of my present invention is to provide an improved showerhead retainer clamp of the type described which utilizes no moving parts, which may be manufactured relatively inexpensively and which is, designed so that a handheld showerhead may be quickly and securely mounted in the retainer clamp.
My improved showerhead retainer clamp has a main supporting bracket that includes a first, fixture portion of the main supporting bracket is utilized to secure the retainer clamp adjacent to where the handheld showerhead is to be used, and preferably, on the end of a conventional shower pipe fitting often found in bathrooms and the like. The second clamping portion of the main supporting bracket includes curved, generally "U" shaped, bifurcated arm members which are spaced from one another so that a part of the handle portion of the showerhead may be disposed between the arm members and which have their central longitudinal axes disposed in a first plane.
The arm members are made of a plastic material which permits the arms to be slightly forced apart, in the first plane, although otherwise, the arm members are relatively rigid. Each of the arm members has a groove formed therein between its ends, with the longitudinal axes of the grooves being disposed in a second plane that is generally perpendicular to the first plane. These grooves have a size and shape so that they are capable of receiving diametrically opposed, radially outwardly projecting lugs formed on the part of the handle portion of the handheld showerhead. The distance between the arm members, as measured from adjacent to the grooves, is slightly less than the distance between the outer distal edges of the radially outwardly projecting lugs, but is slightly greater than the cross-sectional dimension of the handle portion, as measured from adjacent to the bases of these radially outwardly projecting lugs. Thus when the radially outwardly projecting lugs are disposed adjacent to the grooves, and the handle portion is then moved angularly, about its longitudinal axis, in the direction of the grooves and with respect to the second portion of the main supporting bracket the lugs force the arms apart so that they can be "snapped" i.e. received, within the grooves. Of course when the lugs are disposed within the grooves, further relative angular movement between the handle portion and the arms is restricted and can only be accomplished by applying sufficient force so as to "snap" the lugs out of the grooves.
The upper ends of the radially outwardly projecting lugs are enlarged so that their dimensions are greater than the dimensions of the groove. Hence when lugs are disposed within the grooves, the lugs, and thus the showerhead, cannot be moved downwardly, with respect to the arm members. In addition, the handle portion of the showerhead includes, between the radially outwardly projecting lugs and the distal end of the handle portion, a pair of defined, diametrically opposed edges that are disposed within a common plane with the lugs. The handle portion is tapered so that the distance between the edges is greater adjacent to the distal end than adjacent to the lugs. If the showerhead is moved upwardly, relative to the arm members of the retainer clamp, the edges will then be received within the grooves. Although it takes much less force to "snap" these edges out of engagement with the grooves than it does to "snap" the lugs out of the grooves (as a practical matter, it is almost "impossible" to snap the lugs directly out of the grooves), the engagement between the edges and the grooves, effectively prevents the showerhead from being accidentally dislodged from the retainer clamp even if the showerhead should inadvertently bumped upwardly.
In summary, the showerhead cannot be inadvertently dislodged from my retainer clamp by the distal end of the handle portion being accidentally bumped. Rather the showerhead is removed from my improved retainer clamp by moving the showerhead upwardly, with respect to the clamp, until the lugs are no longer in engagement with the grooves. The handle portion is then forcible rotated, about its longitudinal axis, so that the diametrically opposed edges are "snapped" out of engagement with the grooves in the arm members. Once the edges are no longer engaged with the grooves, the handle portion of the showerhead may be then withdrawn from between the arm members. In other words, the showerhead can be dislodged from my retainer clamp only when the showerhead is positively moved upwardly, along a path coaxial with the longitudinal axes of the handle portion, and while in this upward position, is then further positively rotated about the longitudinal axis of the handle portion. Accordingly the improved retainer clamp of my present invention securely supports the handheld showerhead so as to effectively prevent any accidental dislodgement of the showerhead from the clamp.
These and other object and advantages of my present invention will become apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment of my invention which is described in connection with the accompanying drawings.